Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Technology

As Artillery and his team got back to their feet, they shook a bit, and brushed themselves off. Knightbeast looked around, and rubbed his eyes. "How the hell did we get back out here?" Tech looked at him and smiled. "Hey, they're gods, they can do anything they want." Twilight rolled his eyes, but Pixie smiled at Tech. "I still can't believe you finally have faith. You don't know how happy it makes me that you aren't a stick in the mud anymore." Tech looked at her, with almost an adoring quality in his eyes. He smiled and said jokingly, "My dear, flattery will get you nowhere." Pixie smiled back at him, and gave him a hug. "You need to take that thing off sometimes. It wouldn't hurt anyone to see you, you know." Tech blushed, and Knightbeast smiled. "Yeah, Tech. You're way too hideous for us not to get a look at you." Both Knightbeast and Twilight laughed, and Artillery put his hand on his head, in slight disbelief, almost as a sign of reprimanding Knightbeast for his idiotic comment. Tech looked at Knightbeast with a slightly angry glare, and put his helmet back on. "You know, you could play nice," he said, his helmet mechanically distorting his voice once again. Artillery looked at Knightbeast forebodingly, and Knightbeast closed his mouth to stop the comment he had from escaping it. Artillery holstered his scepter, and clapped his hands.

"Ok everyone, let's get back to the village. Who knows what kind of critters hide around here at night?" Knightbeast laughed at Artillery's comment. "We can handle anything this jungle can dish out." Artillery looked at Knightbeast, and shook his head. "Whatever. Let's just go, ok?" They all did as he said, and began walking through the thick jungle. They had made it almost halfway back, when a rustling through the trees around them made them stop. A whoosh of air passed all of them, and Twilight gave a little screech, which he tried to cover up with a cough. Artillery promptly drew his scepter, and it became a sword. "Twilight, fly above these trees, try to look around and see if there's anything trying to attack us." Twilight nodded, and took flight. He circled above the trees, and dove back down. "So?" Artillery said expectantly. "Anything that may be down here was shielded by the treetops. I couldn't see a damn thing." Artillery looked at the ground, his face reddening. "Damn it! What the hell was that noise?!" A rush of air ran past them all again.

"Relax you guys, always with the swords, and growling. Jeez, you'd think you guys have hostile intentions or something," a voice said right after the rush of air blew. Artillery looked all around him very angrily, and shouted, "Show yourself!" another "whoosh" and the voice spoke again. "All right," the voice said, and a figure appeared in front of the team. "Greetings heroes. How's your night going?" Artillery looked at the figure and saw a very strange looking human. He was wearing pure white robes, with a belt that had strings dangling from it. His head, however was the most remarkable thing about him. It was covered in chest length hair, that was incredibly thick and bushy. The darkness of his hair clashed with his outfit, but still somehow made it look complete. His face was barely visible behind the huge mane of hair, but Artillery saw a small smile creeping out from behind it. "Who are you?" Artillery asked with curiosity. The person's smile grew bigger, and he opened his mouth to speak. "I am Zach Natterham. I'm here to help you." Twilight looked at Zach, and laughed. "What's a weirdo like you gonna do to help?" Zach looked at him and he still wore the same smile he had when he first arrived. "Allow me to tell you a little about myself. I am what is known as a Traveler. We are almighty beings that oversee all of the realms in the cosmos. I am special in the fact that I'm the first human to ever be assigned a Traveler post. Humans were never considered to be a very important race to the Travelers, until a high priest named Davon Dygoneler saved an entire realm, my realm, in fact. Then, after centuries of argument, the Travelers decided to make a human a Traveler. And voila, I was the first human Traveler." Knightbeast smirked.

"That's really interesting and everything, but what does that have to do with us?" Zach gave a nod, and frowned a bit. "I was getting to that. Are all the people from this realm so impatient? Anyway, I discovered Draguardium a few years back, before this whole Metahuman thing started. I mistakenly traveled into a village similar to the one you're presumably going back to, but they were very overly-religious. They said they had all these scriptures on how to follow Draguardium as a god, but then when I asked to see them, they said that only the holiest of priests could view those texts, and that I was committing blasphemy by even asking. They all tried to attack me, and I got out of there before they could lay a finger on me." Zach paused for a moment and took a breath. "After that," he began again, "I was determined to find out about this 'Draguardium' character, so I Traveled into their sacred library, and read the books. That's when I found out about how he was to leave a chosen one, and all that junk. And judging by what's been going on, I'd say that psycho on the news is the evil one the books speak about, and you're the chosen one sent to defeat him. The books also talked about the creation of an army to defeat the evil one, and I figured you could use my help." Pixies eyes rolled back into her head and she began twitching. "The war is imminent. Soldiers will be few and far between. Increase your ranks; make an army worthy of Draguardium." She fell to the ground and Artillery ran to her. He lifted her off the ground and held her in his arms. "C'mon babe, you'll be ok. Wake up!" She began stirring slightly, but still didn't wake. Artillery leaned down and kissed her, and she opened her eyes.

"Artillery? What happened?" she said anxiously. Artillery looked at her, then closed his eyes. "Nothing. You just were prophecizing again." She looked back at him and smiled. "Oh, is that all?" She said nothing else, she just stood up and brushed herself off. Knightbeast looked at Zach and then shifted his eyes to Artillery. "So what do you think? Is Zach in or not?" Artillery eyed Zach over, and nodded. "Ok buddy, you can help us. We just gotta make it back to the village really quick, and then we can go home. C'mon." Zach looked at him. "Hold on, I got a better idea. I've been to that village before, but only briefly. If you all hold onto me, I can take you there." Twilight looked at him, smirked a little and brushed his hair to the side. "That would just be too easy. If you're gonna be a member of this team, you need to know this: we like to do things the hard way." Artillery smiled, and nodded. "He's got a point. We never have been ones for taking the easy way out. Let's go." Zach nodded, and they all started walking through the thick jungle. They made it a good distance through, when a wire stopped Artillery in his tracks. "Hold on! Someone booby-trapped the trees!" Artillery changed his scepter to a sword, cut the wire, and jumped back a few steps. Everyone else did as well, and they all watched as a net sprang up from the ground. A mechanical-sounding laughter then filled the air as a bomb went off. The two nearest trees standing side-by-side exploded at the roots, and began falling toward Artillery and his team. Zach grabbed a hold of everyone, and they all disappeared from sight. They reappeared in front of the two trees that had just fallen. The laughing continued, and a thud could be heard behind them.

"You idiots never learn, do you? Did you really think I wouldn't track you here?" The same mechanically distorted voice said. They all turned around, and Knightbeast growled fiercely, as Twilight balled up his fists. "Don't bother disguising your voice, we know it's you, Jessica!" Twilight said, his voice breaking slightly. Jessica laughed at him, holding her hand on her forehead. "What's wrong? Are you mad at me? Well guess what? I don't care! You freaks disgust me, and I'm gonna wipe as many of you out as I can!" Artillery looked at her with an intense fury. "You're sick! How can you possibly even think about killing all these people?! You're as bad as Mindbender! He may be a Metahuman, but he's doing the same thing you are. Killing people for no just cause and without any reason." Jessica snarled at him. "DON'T EVER COMPARE ME TO THOSE FREAKS! I AM NOTHING LIKE THEM!" Knightbeast growled at her. "Really? I'm your brother! We're more alike than you'd ever want to admit!" Twilight gave a nod and bared his teeth. "Yeah, Jess, did you forget about the fact that we're your brothers?" Jessica smiled, and shook her head. "No, I didn't forget, I just don't care. Now, freaks, I'm not stupid enough to try and capture you again, but consider this a warning. You will die, all of you! And I will be the one to kill you!" She gave a laugh, and disappeared into the trees. Knightbeast started to go after her, but Artillery held him back, shaking his head, letting him know that it was the wrong thing to do. Knightbeast gave a huge roar, and punched a tree trunk, which snapped in half. He continued to growl and roar, and punch trees. "I… Hate… Jessica… Newdoria!" Knightbeast began breathing incredibly heavily. Artillery looked at Knightbeast, almost frightened.

"It's ok, Knightbeast, we'll get her. She'll pay for what she's done," he said, trying to make Knightbeast feel better. Knightbeast pulled his hand out of a tree trunk, and glared at Artillery. "Yeah, she's gonna pay, but it pisses me off that my own sister would do this to me. I mean, she was the oldest, she should be an example for us, but instead, she wants to go and be an evil monster, and kill people just for the sake of killing them. I want nothing to do with her. Jeffrey, before you say a word, I want you to know, that if you have anything to do with that selfish bitch, you can forget about me. I'm not gonna deal with her at all!" Twilight looked at Knightbeast with tears in his eyes. "You're right bro. She doesn't deserve us anymore. Not after what she's done. As far as I'm concerned, she's as good as dead." Artillery nodded, and retracted the blade back into his scepter. "Let's go back to the village. We have a lot of work to do." Zach smiled and gave a little nod. "You still wanna walk?" Artillery looked at him, smiling back. "Yeah, we're not that far now. We only have a mile or so to go." They kept walking and finally made it to the village, and as it was still night time, everyone was asleep. Artillery walked into Kahran's tent, and he held his hand up to tell the rest of them to stay where they were. As he walked inside the tent, he noticed that Kahran was still awake, perhaps waiting for Artillery's return.

"You have returned! What happened? Are your companions still with you?" He looked at Artillery with a great admiration and adoration. Artillery looked back at him and smiled. "Yeah, my friends are still here. I just came in here to let you know we're leaving, and thank you for everything." Kahran did a double take and frowned."You're leaving? You've not even been here two days!" Artillery frowned at him. "I'm sorry, but I finished everything I've had to do here, and I've gotta go." Kahran nodded. "I understand. I wish you could stay longer, but you have very important things to do. Now go, and fulfill your destiny." Artillery shook his hand and left the tent, with Knightbeast and everyone else waiting for him. "So, what's up? Are we outta here or what?" Knightbeast said with anticipation. "Yeah. Let's get outta here," Artillery said smiling. Tech looked at both Artillery and Knightbeast and frowned. "We'll that's going to be a bit difficult, considering the fact that our teleporters won't work." Artillery looked at him confusedly. "Wait, what?" Tech gave an irritated sigh. "What I mean is, there's some… electromagnetic disturbance interfering with the teleporters and preventing our return home." Zach looked at tech with a slight frown and then shook his head, his bushy hair completely surrounding his head. He pushed it out of his face, and then smiled again. "You do know I could take you guys back, right? You'd just have to give me coordinates." Tech smiled at Zach and nodded his head. "Very well, here," he said pressing a button on his wrist, and a small card popped up out of his forearm armor. He handed the card to Zach, who looked it over curiously, and then laughed. "Do you give everyone who joins your team an address and a set of coordinates?" Tech looked at him through his helmet, and surprisingly laughed. "Well, to be fair, none of them ever asked." Zach smiled, but Knightbeast growled slightly.

"I don't even know our address! You didn't tell me?" Tech laughed again. "It's not my fault you have a bad memory. You picked out the location, so if anyone should know the address it's you." Knightbeast rolled his eyes, and Tech's line of sight returned to Zach, who looked back at him, smiling. "Ok, if everyone is ready, then hold onto me." Everyone did as he said, and they disappeared from the village they were in.

Jessica was still running through the forest, her blonde, tied back hair was flowing behind her. She tried dialing in to her headquarters, but the signal was too garbled. "Damn it!" she said angrily. "Hopefully the portal's still open, otherwise, I'm screwed." She kept running and stopped when she found a large archway, the inside of which was glowing with a liquid-looking material, green in color. "Sweet!" she said triumphantly. She took a tiny scrap of metal and threw it into the archway. It hung in midair for a moment, then the green liquid turned purple, and seemingly sucked it into nothingness. Jessica smiled, and jumped into the archway herself, and disappeared. She rematerialized in a building, surrounded by scientists and a few soldiers. "So the mission was a success?" one of the scientists asked. She smiled at him. "Yeah. It happened just like you said it would. My teleporter fizzled out when I got there, so I set up the portal, just like you said. Lucky for you, poindexter, it actually worked." The scientist began examining her wrist, where her teleporter was located, and she ignored him. The soldier closest to her smiled. "Yeah, it worked, now your next order of business is a bit of field work." He looked at quizzical, and already knew what she was going to ask, so he answered her question for her. "Nothing specific dear, I just want freaks, and don't bother coming back until you've captured one." Jessica nodded, and the scientist examining the teleporter stopped, and smiled. "It seems to be in working order now, it was just the natural, mysterious electromagnetic aura that the Vermillion Archipelago seems to possess." She looked at him irritably, and a man in a navy blue suit walked in. "You know what you have to do now correct?" She looked at the man, and nodded. "Very well then, don't come back until you find a Metahuman, and bring it back alive!" She looked at him, frowned slightly and disappeared from sight.

The cool night air that was in the Vermillion Archipelago was not to be found above Draco City. It was late morning there, as Draco City was about ten hours ahead of the area the Vermillion Archipelago. Mindbender had returned to his home, where Elemage and Shikara had never been. Elemage looked at Mindbender, and a worried expression crossed his face. "Don't you think I should go back to my palace? It has been a while, and I fear my staff may be worried about me." Mindbender laughed and shook his head. "Your staff will be fine. Have you ever been told you worry too much? Besides, we have far too much to do for you to go back now. Which reminds me, Dracosaur, you've wanted to become more active in liberating us, correct?" Dracosaur nodded, and gave Mindbender a quizzical look. "What did you have in mind?" Mindbender smiled mischievously. "Well, since you seem to love burning things so much, why don't you torch the neighborhood, I never much liked it." Dracosaur looked at him, unsure if he was joking or serious. "Really?" he said, not waiting for a response, he was too excited. "Ok then!" He ran from the living room, and out the front door. He shot into the sky, and a huge roar escaped his mouth. He began flying away from the house, when he suddenly got yanked backward by some mysterious force. He looked back at his leg, and saw a rope ensnaring his foot. He tugged at the rope, trying to break it free of whatever else it was connected to, with no success. Then, a mechanically distorted female voice began laughing. "Come to mama, freak!" she said cruelly. Dracosaur roared and sent a jet of flame backward. "Who are you, and what the hell do you think you're doing?" She laughed again. "I'm here to get rid of all of you freaks, and you're the next on my list!" Dracosaur began flapping his wings furiously, wriggling, trying to be free of the rope, but it was either thicker than it looked, or was made of some incredibly sturdy material. Mindbender suddenly ran through the front door, followed by Shadowcaster and Shikara. He had told Elemage to stay inside so he wouldn't be recognized. He spotted the mysterious person and smiled.

"Ah, so I finally have the pleasure of meeting the Hunter. Jessica, isn't it?" She shot him a look of fury. "What did you just say?" Mindbender politely smiled. "Your name. You are Jessica Newdoria, are you not?" She continued her angered stare at Mindbender. "How do you know my name? What, are you my uncle twice removed or something?" Mindbender chuckled a little, and continued to smile. "No my dear, nothing quite that simple. I merely have incredible powers of perception. I am quite certain I am not related to you in any way." She eyed him up and down. "So you're just a freak. I might have known. Well, freak, either stay outta my way, or you can get taken out too." Dracosaur began growling. "I don't mean to break up your little chat, but can you get me outta this thing?!" he said, directing his gaze at Mindbender. Mindbender smiled at him, then looked at Jessica. "Please release your hold on my colleague." Jessica laughed. "You gotta be joking. I'm not gonna let him go, I finally got a good catch, and I'm gonna hang onto it if it kills me." Mindbender growled at her last statement. "It may very well might! Release your hold on my colleague, or perish!" Jessica looked at him, confused, as though she didn't believe Mindbender could hurt her. "Back off, you fucking freak, or I'll blow your head off!" Mindbender growled, and looked at her incredulously. "How dare you speak to me in such a manner?! You wish to tempt me? Very well. Goodbye Hunter!" Without even the slightest hesitation, Jessica pulled Dracosaur in to her, and he was further wrapped up in the rope that had previously ensnared his leg. She wrapped her arm underneath his snout and around his throat. She snarled at Dracosaur, who growled back, and Jessica squeezed Dracosaur's throat tighter.

"You wanna kill me, you'll have to take this freak out first!" She shouted angrily. Mindbender gave her an almost amused look, and smiled. "You are quite bold indeed, assuming that I need to go through Dracosaur to get to you. I could disintegrate you on the spot, you know. However, your determination intrigues me. I wish to speak with you privately, without my colleagues around to, how shall we say this, ah, yes without them around to become over stimulated." Jessica looked at him confusedly. "Why do you think I'd want to talk to any of you freaks? You're all abominations! As far as I'm concerned, you can all rot in hell!" Jessica let go of Dracosaur, then quickly pulled out a gun out and blasted at Dracosaur. He immediately fell to his knees and crumpled over. He struggled to get out of the ropes he was in, but soon found himself unconscious. Mindbender looked at Jessica with a fury in his eyes none had ever seen. He began floating in the air, and Jessica quickly jumped on top of Dracosaur, and teleported out of sight. Mindbender Let out a scream of fury and ripped a house off its foundation. "HOW DARE SHE?! I WILL SEE HER DEAD!" Shadowcaster shot a terrified look at him, although a hint of admiration was also visible. "We gotta get him back! Mindbender, how the hell are we gonna get him back?" Mindbender looked at her, still seething but his voice became calm. "Her mind is incredibly difficult to read. Perhaps it was all the equipment she keeps with her, or maybe she just has incredible mental resistances. Either way, I could not determine where she took him. However, I have a plan. But since Elemage is still indoors, why don't we discuss it there?" Everyone did as he said, and the three of them walked inside Mindbender's home. Elemage was sitting in the den, in a large armchair, sipping tea and he promptly placed it on the coaster on the end table next to the chair.

"Where is Dracosaur? What happened?" he said anxiously. Mindbender put a hand up to silence him. "Dracosaur has been kidnapped. I have a plan to get him back but it will be you and Shikara here doing most of the work. Elemage, what I need you to do is go back to your mansion home, and track down this Jessica Newdoria woman. Say she is a murderer, and she must be stopped. Do not include the fact that she is killing Metahumans, obviously, your government could care less if we are killed. Just convince them that it is imperative she is captured." Elemage looked at him for a moment, slightly confused. Mindbender looked back at him somewhat irritably. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" Elemage did as he said and took off out into the mid-day sky, being sure to cloud his face so no one would recognize him. Mindbender turned his attention to Shikara and smiled. "You have a task that is relatively simple. I want you to split yourself over the city. If you see Jessica anywhere, I will know, trust me. I hope you are good with directions, I understand that you are from another country, but—" Shikara held up a hand to interrupt him. "I lived here when I was a child, I left with my father to try to get out of the city. Trust me, I'll be fine." She stood up, gave a nod, and walked out the door to go fill the many posts she was to assume. Mindbender watched her go, then looked at Shadowcaster, frowning slightly. "My dear, we have to discuss things between us." She looked at him confusedly.

"What things? What are you talking about?" She began to get nervous. She could feel her insides working around at the thought of Mindbender discussing his feelings toward her. She shook it off; she was jumping to conclusions, he didn't say anything about his feelings, he just said "things between us." She looked at him expectantly, and waited for his response. Mindbender gave a nervous cough and rubbed his head. "Shadowcaster, I have never been one for opening up my feelings to anyone, I usually have much more important things to do, but lately I can't help but…" he searched for the right words, "…feel gravitated towards you. You have become more than just a colleague to me. And ever since your outburst on Elemage's airship, I have been searching for the right way to tell you that I do have feelings for you, I truly do." Shadowcaster's heart was pounding inside her chest. She could feel the sweat dripping from her forehead. "You mean you heard me on the airship? In the washroom and everything?" Mindbender smiled a bit. "My dear, even without my powers of perception, it would have been impossible not to hear you." She frowned and looked down; she couldn't look Mindbender in the face. "Great, so everybody knows?" Mindbender frowned a bit as well. "I'm afraid so." Shadowcaster looked up, smiling slightly now. "Well, at least that's out of the way. So umm, does this mean we're dating now?" She almost threw up saying it. She was so nervous; she had never felt this way around anyone else. Mindbender looked at her, and a huge smile spread across his face. "Nothing would make me happier, Lacey. A part of me is afraid to pursue a relationship, but I let go of my fear the day I realized what I could achieve. So to answer your question, yes, of course I will be with you." Shadowcaster blushed, stood up, and gave Mindbender a hug, which he returned happily. She smiled and took his hand as she sat down next to him. Mindbender smiled at her but then a frown spread across his face. "I hate to break the mood but I am a tad bit worried about Dracosaur. I know he will be fine, but that temper of his… it's going to get him into trouble."

The early afternoon sky was very cloudy and overcast. As it began to rain on Jessica's headquarters, a roar could be heard from inside the building. Dracosaur was chained, standing, at his neck, arms, waist, thighs, and ankles. "Get me outta these damn chains!" Jessica laughed and pointed her gun at him. "Shut up or I'll knock you the fuck out." Dracosaur gave a low growl, and reluctantly shut up. She turned her gaze at one of the many scientists in the metal room. "Hook him up to the monitors, Poindexter, the boss will be here soon, and he'll wanna know how our little friend is doing." She walked out of the room and began wandering down the hallway. The scientist looked at her, and nodded. He took a needle looking device attached to a long winding cord. He walked up to Dracosaur, who growled at him. "What do you think you're doing with that?" he said anxiously. The scientist frowned slightly, and looked Dracosaur in the eye, which he found incredibly hard, considering Dracosaur's eyes were incredibly reptile-like. "I am going to put this in your spine to monitor your brain activity." Dracosaur began twitching and looked incredibly anxious. "The hell you are! You aren't goin' anywhere near me with that goddamn thing!" The scientist frowned again. "Well, I am going to insert it in your spine, whether you want it or not. I would suggest that you don't move when I put it in or you could … what was that word … oh yeah … die." Dracosaur growled at the scientist, and closed his eyes. "Brace yourself," the scientist said as he walked around to Dracosaur's back and held the device up to him. Dracosaur tensed up, and the scientist shoved the device into his back. Dracosaur roared so loud the monitor hooked up to the device now in Dracosaur's back shook. Jessica walked back in the room and smiled.

"Ah, so we found a way to wound the beast? Good. Now freak, you're gonna tell me who the hell you're working for, and what the hell all you freaks are planning, and you're gonna do it NOW!" Dracosaur looked at Jessica with a cold hatred that he had never felt for anyone else. "You can torture me all you want, I'm not gonna talk. I know how this is gonna work. You're gonna poke and prod me with all your different gadgets, and you're gonna keep asking me if I'm gonna tell you who I'm working for and what my plans are, and I tell you no, and then you torture me, and keep asking me, until I get so sick of the pain, I just give in and tell you everything. Well I got news for you sweetheart, that ain't gonna happen." Jessica looked at him, surprised at his boldness. "You got some balls don't you, freak? All right, here's how this is gonna go. Since I don't have the patience to fight with you, I'm gonna ask you one more time who you're working for and all that fun shit, and you either tell me, or I drill a hole into your skull with my pistol, got it?" Dracosaur growled and nodded. The monitor attached to the device that was in Dracosaur's spine beeped quietly through the tiny, dull, gray room, and Jessica cleared her throat. Just as she was about to speak, a man wearing a large navy blue jacket, and suit pants to match, entered the room. It had many markings on it, and the ribbons beneath his left shoulder signified he was (or at least had been) in the military.

"So, this is our little friend?" the man said as he smiled. "Hello there. I am Colonel Nicholas Kipling. I am sure Jessica here has interrogated you, but I would like to perform my own brand of interrogation. Jessica, if you would, please leave the room, and lock the door." Jessica looked at him, and frowned. "But sir, I haven't even conducted my own interrogation yet." Kipling looked at her with a very airy expression. "That's all well and good, now do as I said please. Oh, and shut off the cameras for this area as well." Jessica looked at the Colonel grudgingly, but did as he said. Kipling waited a few moments, and a red light that Dracosaur had not seen before was shut off. He supposed that was the "camera" that Kipling was talking about. Kipling stared at Dracosaur intently for a moment, and smiled. "So, what is your name?" he said with a friendly air, and Dracosaur looked at him confusedly. "Anthony, why?" Kipling frowned. Dracosaur could tell that's not what Kipling meant when he asked for his name. Kipling cleared his throat and put his hand on his chest. "What's your real name Anthony?" Dracosaur frowned. He didn't understand any of this. Why was this Colonel being so friendly? Why was he even kidnapped? And what was going to happen to him? The questions continued to go through his mind as he looked the Colonel in the eyes and said "Dracosaur." Kipling looked at the monitor, and the device hooked up to Dracosaur. Then he looked Dracosaur back in the eyes. "Well Dracosaur, I am a very reasonable man. I happen to hate Metahumans with a passion, but I have a connection to them only our kind can understand." Dracosaur looked at him and a confused expression spread across his face. "Huh?" Kipling laughed at Dracosaur and the smile quickly went away. "I am a Metahuman. Since I am one, I know what they are capable of. That's why I am here. I am trying to do good by preventing them from doing damage I know they can do." Dracosaur looked at him, once again confused.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, beginning to get annoyed with all of this. A look of sheer rage spread across Kipling's face. "I am talking about how you Metahumans did this!" Dracosaur looked in shock, and slight disgust, as Kipling ripped off what appeared to be a normal face, to reveal a hideous, blue-green, stony face. "One of your kind attacked my mother when she was pregnant! Somehow, this so-called 'virus' that runs through all your veins infected me that day! You will all be killed, and I will make sure that it starts with you!" He screamed it so loud that it even made Dracosaur tremble slightly. He opened his mouth incredibly wide, so that now, several very sharp fangs could be seen. The door burst open very suddenly, and a pistol shot put Kipling on the floor. Dracosaur looked, though barely able to turn his head, and saw Jessica standing there, pistol in hand, looking very confused.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" She shouted, now pointing her pistol at Dracosaur, who laughed. "Looks like your boss was what you're hunting. You must get tired of getting screwed over like this." Jessica looked at him, obviously annoyed, but a smile crept out of her face. "You're really starting to piss me off. You're annoying even for a freak. Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna blast you until I feel better. Then, if you're still alive, I'll think about letting you go." Dracosaur stood there for a moment, waiting for Jessica to speak, or at least start shooting. When no sound came, from pistol or lips, Dracosaur began speaking. "You know what's occurred to me? I can breathe FIRE!" He had clearly been waiting for his moment, and he saw this as it. He shot a precise jet of fire directly at the hand holding Jessica's pistol. Her reflexes were clearly shot by having to react to her boss being a Metahuman, and she hadn't seen this little battle coming. She dropped the pistol, and eyed Dracosaur with a stunned look. "What the hell?! How are you able to do that?!" Dracosaur smiled his toothy, frightening grin. "It's easy. I opened my mouth and shot you with it. Now come get the scientist to get this damn thing out my spine or I'll roast you completely. I don't think you'd be too happy being killed by a 'freak', would you?" Jessica looked at him, incredibly frustrated, and walked out of the room. She walked back in a moment later, gripping the scientist's lab coat, and holding a knife to his throat.

"You wanna tempt me freak? This is what we're gonna do. Since you wanna be a little shit, I'm gonna give you two options. Either tell me what the hell your plans are, and I can kill you, and this scientist, and never have to worry about either of you getting on my nerves again, or, you can struggle, and try to be an ass, like I know you are, and I can just kill the scientist, and watch you squirm. Then after you're all tuckered out, I can kill you too. Either way, you're both going to die." The scientist looked at her in shock, and almost looked as though he was going to cry.

"Is there a way that we can do this without me dying?" he said shakily. Jessica looked at him, and pressed the knife harder against his throat. "If you know what's good for you, you'll shut up." She turned her gaze to Dracosaur. "Pick your poison." Dracosaur looked her in the eye, and spit in her face. Jessica rubbed it off her face, temporarily removing the knife from the scientist's throat, but a moment later it was back again. "Ok, have it your way." She took the blade and quickly slid it across the scientist's throat, and Dracosaur watched as his last hope of getting out fell to the floor, blood gushing from his neck. Dracosaur began to become very angry. He looked at Jessica with a fury that she could almost feel burning inside him. Jessica watched Dracosaur as his eyes became bright red, and flames began issuing from his mouth. Jessica didn't wait another minute. She bolted out of the room, and closed and locked the door behind her. Dracosaur began roaring, and tilted his head upward. A stream of fire started to come from his mouth, and the room quickly became intensely hot. The room soon took on an orange tint from all the flame now inside it. The monitors began to smoke and crack, and then eventually started melting from all the stress. The rod in Dracosaur's back, being made of glass, also began to crack. It then broke completely, and Dracosaur felt a sense of relief and stopped shooting flames everywhere. The chains that had been keeping him from moving had now been cracked, and he broke out of them. He had no clue where he was, but growing up in the city, he'd learned to fend for himself. He broke through the roof, and flew off into the sky, careening toward his destination at breakneck speed. He surveyed his surroundings, and saw that he was in downtown Draco City. He flew higher, and saw the nicer outskirts of the city, where Mindbender made his home. He banked left, and quickly began to fly toward them. It took a few minutes, but when he made it there, he dusted himself off, and walked up to the door. Mindbender immediately opened it and gave Dracosaur a stunned, but stern look.

"Dracosaur, how could you have allowed yourself to be captured that way? You could have compromised us all." He said, very irritably. Dracosaur just looked at him and smirked. "Relax. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle. They had me hooked up to all this machinery, and I just torched the place. No biggie." Shadowcaster stepped out to the door now, and laughed at Dracosaur.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you? How could you let yourself get captured like that?" Dracosaur growled at her, and gave a small sneer. "Let's see you get hit with a stunner, and be able to fight right after that." Mindbender looked at the two of them, and shook his head. "Now is not the time for this, either of you. Let's go inside. We do have things to discuss about our next move." Dracosaur followed them inside, and the door closed, and the weather suddenly shifted, as the heroes were sitting in their headquarters, accompanied by Zach, who was teleporting all over said headquarters.

"Zach, STOP!" Artillery shouted, but Zach was having none of it. He was bouncing from room to room, fixture to fixture, and when he finally stopped in the mess hall, he took a deep breath in and let out an enormous sigh. "Now this is the kind of place I love. Wide open, everything at my fingertips, just… incredible. Having said that, I regret to inform you all, that I have to go. It's part of the whole 'Traveler' thing. Bouncing around from place to place is kinda our deal." Artillery looked at him, confused. "Why do you have to go now? You just helped us. I'm sure we could find you a room somewhere or something." Zach shook his head. "No, I honestly do have to go. I'm not allowed to stay in one realm too long. I'm like the Travelers' little errand boy. They don't respect me as much as the others, 'cause I'm a human and everything. But that's ok, I'll show them all. So, I'll pop in from time to time to see how everyone is doing, and maybe to offer help now and again." Artillery nodded. Knightbeast and Twilight gave slightly disapproving shakes of the head, but Artillery ignored them. "Well Zach, thanks for the help. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you more." He held out his hand, and Zach shook it. He then disappeared without a trace. Artillery looked at everyone, and smiled. His look then became very serious. "Now that all that is out of the way, what's our next move?" Knightbeast gave a shudder and shook his head.

"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna watch TV." He turned on the TV, and flipped it to the news. A live feed of a frozen wasteland somehow piqued Knightbeast's interest.

"Here is the feed from earlier today." The TV screen changed from the news screen to the frozen wasteland in question. A sudden blur running across the screen, cream in color, made Knightbeast's eyes go huge. The screen rewound, and paused at the moment where the blur first went across the screen. "This was the sight on the frozen continent of Lupinus today, where satellite photos and land rovers have recently captured what appear to be large, canine-like creatures…" Knightbeast growled and turned his head toward the rest of the room. Everyone else was still just hanging out, but were obviously doing their own thing. "Hey you guys! Come look at this!" Everyone jumped out of the spots they were in, and walked to the couch. The TV continued to blare on, as they all watched intently.

"Scientists believe this canine-like species to be Lupine, a species long thought to be extinct. Whether or not they are, remains to be seen. From these satellite photos, they are much more clearly visible, forming a pack, possibly to hunt." Knightbeast and the others looked at the picture now on the screen, and their jaws all dropped. Creatures that looked almost exactly like Knightbeast were frozen on the screen, only these creatures were much bigger and looked slightly less human than Knightbeast. Knightbeast held up a hand to silence words that didn't come, though he predicted it from the revelation that had just taken place. The TV then continued to blare on.

"These creatures are truly a marvel, and reports say that these creatures can be very dangerous; they have attacked many of the cameras that airships placed on the frozen continent to document them. Today, a team of scientists, accompanied by soldiers to assist them, are traveling to the frozen continent to study these creatures, and perhaps transport them to our local zoo. In other news…" Knightbeast let out a huge growl, and jumped up out of his seat. "They're gonna do what?! We're going down there NOW!" Artillery looked at him, and an almost frightened expression spread across his face. "What do you mean? You have some need to go help them? Since when did you turn into an animal rights activist?" Pixie looked at Artillery, also slightly frightened. "You must have no idea how Knightbeast gets when he gets mad do you? You saw how he acted in the forest. Don't stir the pot, ok?" Twilight laughed. "Pixie, maybe you should just let Artillery do what he wants, eh?" Knightbeast gave another growl. The anger was building on his face. He didn't know what it was, but he felt some connection to these 'Lupines' aside from just looking like them. He punched the couch, and gave a loud growl. "Will everybody just shut up?! They're not animals, Artillery. I can't explain it, but I feel connected to these 'Lupines' somehow. I mean it's obvious, yeah, I look like them, but it's more than that. We can't just let those scientists do experiments on them. Trust me, I've been through that, it's not fun, ok?"

"Artillery, Knightbeast here is correct," Tech said, sounding his normal know-it-all self. "The Lupines are not animals. Not any more than we are, anyway. They are a hunter-gatherer species. They were even known to be able to learn languages. At least, according to old texts. I suggest you listen to him. He seems to have a knowledge of these things that we can't fathom." Artillery looked from Tech back to Knightbeast and eyed him up and down. "Knightbeast, you really wanna do this? There's no way I can convince you to do otherwise?" Knightbeast actually managed to let a smile break across his face. "I really have to do this, and nobody's tellin' me any different." Artillery returned his smile. "Well then, I guess we're going to Lupinus." Tech looked at Artillery and gave a noncommittal jerk of the head. "Well, we do have a bit of a dilemma. Lupinus is a polar continent." Twilight looked at him confusedly. "Could you please speak English please?" Tech looked at Twilight irritably. Knightbeast was still jittering expectantly; Pixie was looking at Artillery, who was looking at Tech, waiting for his response. Tech was still looking at Twilight, who scoffed. "A polar continent, Twilight, will stop our machinery from working properly. Its extreme magnetism will make our instruments go haywire, so the question is how the hell do we get there?" Everyone could feel the air's temperature shift, and a slight whoosh of air brought a chill to the air. Zach suddenly reappeared, as he shook his head to try as much as he could to get the hair out of his face. "Hey everyone, sorry about that. You remember how I told you that the Travelers don't want me to stay in one realm too long?" He waited for an answer, but all he got were nods of the head, so he continued anyway. "Well, apparently they have other plans for me. They want me to stay here. I swear, they're just trying to screw with me. They told me they want me to watch out for this new situation unfolding, whatever that means. I still have to give regular reports to them though." Artillery looked at him confusedly, eyeing him up and down still perplexed by his robes combined with his hair. "So what you're telling me is that you're gonna stay here? And that you have nothing better to do, now that these 'Travelers' are making you stay here?" Zach nodded, and smiled. Tech looked at him.

"You seem to have an unusual habit of showing up when people need you the most." The mechanical sounding voice gave Zach a perplexed look. "How can you stand to be cooped up in that thing? You can't be comfortable at all." Tech merely scoffed at Zach, who ignored him. "Yeah I do tend to do that. People underestimate me, and I tend to prove them wrong. Now how exactly do you need me?" Artillery looked at him, almost shocked at his display of intuition. He nodded his head and smiled. "I thought you'd never ask. We need to get to Lupinus, and it looks like our technology can't get us there. That's where you'd come in." Zach laughed and tossed his head, his bushy hair creating a kind of orb around his head. He shook his hair out of his face. 'You know, you guys really need to invest in a jet or something. All of this teleporting is gonna give you guys tumors or something." Twilight sneered at him.

"This coming from the guy, who, not even ten minutes ago, was wildly teleporting around our house. You're delusional, you know that?" as Twilight flapped his wings menacingly, but Zach shook it off. "Well, that may be, but I'm your only hope of getting to Lupinus aren't I? Just stop with your bellyaching, ok?" Twilight looked scandalized, and almost looked as though he'd attack Zach, but Artillery, and Knightbeast, who was becoming increasingly agitated, gave him a stern look, and Twilight reluctantly backed down. Knightbeast turned toward Zach eyeing him up and down, giving an irritable growl.

"Can we get a move on? I'm really starting to get annoyed." Zach smiled.

"We sure can. Just everybody grab on to me, and we can get there. Any particular part of Lupinus that you wanted me to teleport you to?" Knightbeast growled again. "You can just teleport us to where the main Lupine camp is ok?" Zach looked at him confusedly. "I'm gonna pretend I have a clue what the hell you're talking about." Tech left the room for a moment, confusing everyone in the room, until he returned with a bunch of what appeared to be oxygen masks.

"Tech, you wanna explain the junk?" Twilight said rudely. Tech tilted his head toward him with a glance that was presumed to be contempt, as no one could see his eyes. "This 'junk', as you so eloquently put it, is a pile of re-breathers. They will help you breathe in the thin-air environment that is Lupinus. I have one for everyone except for myself and Knightbeast, whose healing abilities will aid him greatly with being able to breathe in such an environment. So it is just Pixie, Artillery, Zach here, and you." He looked at everyone individually as he handed them their re-breathers. He jabbed Twilight his. "Your suits have the ability to retain your body heat well enough to keep you from freezing. Zach, I do not have an extra suit for you, so you will have to survive with a coat, and some more snow pants." Zach nodded, popped away for a moment, and returned with exactly that, already on his person. Everyone put their re-breathers on, and Zach grabbed everyone as they all teleported out of sight.

The air was thin and dry on Lupinus, just as Tech said it would be. It was also incredibly cold. The air was so brisk, it could've cut through cement. Knightbeast was leading the pack, eager to find his "brethren." He stopped for a moment, took a deep breath in, and sighed.

"This is incredible! Just feel that air rush through you!" he said, feeling incredibly energetic, though no one else seemed to share his enthusiasm. Pixie even scoffed.

"Can we hurry up? I hate the cold." Twilight looked at her, and laughed at her. "So, we've been going from place to place, and you've kept quiet the whole while, and you choose now to complain? What is wrong with you?" Pixie snapped. She conjured up a ball of light, and threw it at Twilight, and as it exploded, growling could be heard from a distance.